Eternity's Invitation
by Vaneria Potter
Summary: A continuation of "The Highwayman's Legacy" and inspired by "An Invite, to Eternity", by John Clare. Dealing with her best friend being possessed by the ghost of a star-crossed lover was just the beginning. Returning to a place where she swore she would never set foot again, Tina Barnes is once again dragged into the realm of the Supernatural. At least she has company, this time.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** _I do not own 'An Invite, To Eternity'. All rights and profits go to John Clare. I do own the characters mentioned in the story._

 **Summary** : _Sequel to 'The Highwayman's Legacy'. Tina had thought she was done with possessing spirits and ghost-related-fiasco headaches, but the discovery that she is not quite as alone in her abilities as she thought, sweeps her up in an all new adventure, whose instigator is far from benign…_

* * *

 **Chapter One**

 _Wilt thou go with me, sweet maid,_

 _Say, maiden, wilt thou go with me_

 _Through the valley-depths of shade,_

 _Of night and dark obscurity;_

 _Where the path has lost its way,_

 _Where the sun forgets the day,_

 _Where there's nor life nor light to see,_

 _Sweet maiden, wilt thou go with me!_

 _Where stones will turn to flooding streams,_

 _Where plains will rise like ocean waves,_

 _Where life will fade like visioned dreams_

 _And mountains darken into caves,_

 _Say, maiden, wilt thou go with me._

 _Through this sad non-identity,_

 _Where parents live and are forgot,_

 _And sisters live and know us not!_

 _Say, maiden; wilt thou go with me_

 _In this strange death of life to be,_

 _To live in death and be the same,_

 _Without this life or home or name,_

 _At once to be and not to be -_

 _That was and is not -yet to see_

 _Things pass like shadows, and the sky_

 _Above, below, around us lie?_

 ** _An Invite, To Eternty_ , by John Clare**

* * *

Tina had sworn that she would never come back to England, especially this part of it.

Even if the United Kingdom as a whole hadn't been the site of so many battles and violent deaths that Tina could barely go five feet without running into a ghost, the village she was travelling to held far too many memories.

A little over three years ago, she had departed the small tourist town, and particularly the Inn that was the main attraction, with great relief, insisting that it would take a near-miracle to get her to return.

Some of the more unkind people of Tina's aquaintance might have suggested that Lizzy, who Tina considered a sister in all but blood, managing to keep up a serious long distance relationship for over two years should count as a near miracle. Tina might have suggested that those people could shut up or get a punch in the face.

Nevertheless, Lizzy's 'we-survived-a-possession' date with James Dawson, grandson of the local innkeeper, once both of them had recovered from their possession-resulting injuries and been released from the hospital, had turned into genuine attraction. Genuine attraction had been followed by three years of setting alarms for odd hours in order to make Skype dates (and dealing with grumpy housemates the next morning), saving up to either visit each other or meet somewhere in the middle, engagement and finally, on a very sunny Australian autumn day, a Civil ceremony uniting them in marriage.

It was probably a good thing that there were two months between the ceremony in Australia and the one being held tomorrow, because both bride and groom had the fair Anglo skin that had left them gloriously sunburned.

Well, Tina called it glorious, since it let her make all manner of bad puns at her friend's expense. Lizzy complained that there were types of kindling that didn't burn as fast as she did.

The happy couple had spent thirteen days on a European Road Trip before hopping the Channel to England, and the Inn that had been in the Dawson family for centuries, for a reaffirmation of vows, since most of the Dawsons hadn't been able to make it down to the former Colony.

Likewise, Tina was the only one of Lizzy's extended family who was able to make it over to England, for various reasons ranging from bosses who don't mind a day off for weddings but do mind taking an entire week, to throwing a tantrum that they (or their children) hadn't been included in the ceremony and refusing to attend out of some kind of bizarre moral objection, even though the sheer number of cousins and second cousins Lizzy had to choose from would have made that impossible.

Still, Tina had every intention of treasuring what time she and Lizzy had left.

* * *

It was going to be strange, living by herself and not tripping over Lizzy's latest project, and remembering to actually do the washing up before the dishes developed intelligent life. Tina would need to start actually setting an alarm, rather than rely on Lizzy stampeding through the apartment as she tried to get out of the door in time to beat the traffic, and find someone else willing to join her in throwing over-ripe produce over the fence at people who thought 4:00 a.m. was a good time to mow the lawn. Ms Upstairs, who had just had a baby, might be open to the idea.

On the bright side, at least this time there would be no ghosts of star-crossed lovers possessing random strangers - and inadvertently getting them killed - in a morbid attempt to create a happier ending.

Other than being forced to listen to the old biddies of the family complaining that only Tina could go to a wedding and come home without even a phone number, what was the worst that could happen?

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 _A/N: So, this is a continuation of_ ** _The Highwayman's Legacy_** _, which can be found on amazon dot com in kindle or paperback form. I'm heading overseas to visit my Dad for Christmas, and I'll try to work on the next chapter while I'm there._

 _For those reading my other work, **A Friend In Need, Striking Back, Snow White Learns Stranger Danger** and **A SCA Girl in Middle Earth** have also been updated, as well as another new story, **The Many Deaths of Christian Grey**_

 _Thanks,_

 _Nat_


	2. Chapter 2

_Disclaimer: I do not own An Invite, To Eternity. All profit from the poem goes to John Clare's estate. The storyline and original characters are mine, please ask permission before use._

 _Summary: See Previous Chapters_

* * *

 **Chapter Two**

Tina caught a train from the airport, if only because the speed would hopefully prevent her from too many gory images. It wouldn't help much with battlefields, which could take anything from a few seconds to a few minutes to bypass, but at least she was less likely to be bothered by individual ghosts.

The downside of taking a cross-country train instead of a several-hours layover, followed by a domestic flight and taxi, was the number of routes to choose from. The quickest route involved three changes, not something Tina wanted to do with a suitcase and a garment bag. The cheapest option with no changes took an extremely roundabout route that added an extra hour or so to the trip.

Eventually, Tina went with the train that wouldn't require having to change anywhere. It would even give her time for a nap to get rid of some of the jetlag. Texting Lizzy the train and estimated time of arrival at the nearest station, Tina closed her eyes and hoped that no-one had died messily on this particular carriage.

The train detoured south-west, before skirting the Welsh border and passing through the Midlands on it's way up to the north of England, where the Dawson's Inn sat near the Scottish border.

* * *

Nearing Northampton Station, about five hours into the journey, Tina sat bolt upright, startling those around her. Anger, tangible yet distant, radiated from nearby, and she looked out the window, trying to pinpoint it. The best she could get was a large building, and she pointed it out to the man in the seat across from her. "What's that building there."

The man, wearing a suit and holding a briefcase with 'St Andrew's' stamped on it, followed where she was pointing. "That's St Andrew's Hospital, miss. Why?"

Luckily, Tina had practice in thinking up excuses. "The architecture looked old, and I was trying to figure out what it was."  
The man shrugged. "It was built as a Hospital for the insane in the early 1800's, founded by the public. Now it's a psychiatric hospital dealing with various mental disorders, one of the four not covered by the NHS. Excuse me, this is my stop."

Tina thanked him and leaned back in her seat, trying to relax. Hospitals that used to be insane asylums were the worst, and tended to have a lot of angry ghosts, who had been put there for any number of absurd reasons, from 'Ill treatment by husband' to 'female troubles' to 'epileptic fits' or 'falling off a horse during war'. In some cases, the reason was as simple as being a woman whose husband wanted to be rid of her but couldn't obtain a divorce.

And that was before you counted the ones who were genuinely insane or had violent fits.

Nope, Tina was going to keep her eyes firmly closed with her earbuds in until she reached her destination.

* * *

Will, a friend of James who had helped with the whole 'Highwayman fiasco', picked her up from the station, roughly forty-five minutes drive from the Inn. Most of the drive was spent in silence, which changed as soon as Tina entered the Inn.

A squeal of joy was Tina's only warning before Lizzy slammed into her in a delighted hug, staying just long enough to say how wonderful it was to see her before being whisked away by a woman who was probably her mother-in-law, leaving James's friends to finish the introductions. Ben, the other friend of James's who had been involved in the possession problems of Tina's last visit, introduced a tall, cocoa-skinned woman to the others. "This is Valerie, we met in one of my History seminars."

Valerie smiled at them, her eyes focusing directly on Tina. "Ben's told me a lot about all of you. It's nice to finally put a face to the name."

Tina smiled back politely as James's grandmother called from the kitchen, causing the soon-to-be-married couple to hurry off in that direction, followed by Ben, which left the two girls alone, staring awkwardly at each other. Tina hated awkward silences, and it caused a small pang at the thought of the comfortable silences that were so common with Lizzy, that were about to become a lot rarer. "So… what do you do?"

Valerie flashed a quick smile, her black eyes lighting up with humour. "Nice intro. I work in a specialised government department. You?"

Tina shrugged. "Personal trainer. Apparently, I'm terrifying enough to make up to make up for my looks."

Valerie rolled her eyes in sympathy. "I know what you mean. Some people still do a double-take when I don't have an exotic accent or speak in wannabe-gangsta."

"Do you get the 'but you're too pretty' and sexual stereotypes in varying degrees of non-subtlety, too? Bane of my existence." Modern day society had become better about it, but several of Tina's older clients still somehow got the idea that a woman couldn't be involved in a physically-demanding profession (or reach 30 without having a steady relationship) unless they were a lesbian. Yes, Tina was fairly sure that she wasn't all-the-way-straight, but it was the principal of the thing!

It was Valerie's turn to shrug. "Sometimes. Most people are smart enough to realise that I wouldn't have made it to my current position without being very good at my job, but others seem to think that I'm some kind of affirmative action Bond Girl."

Tina managed not to grimace. For all that society was improving, they still had a long way to go. But what kind of specialised department was Valerie in to cause Bond Girl comparisons? "So, how does that relate to meeting Ben in a History seminar and being his plus one for a wedding?"

Valerie grinned broadly. "Personal interest and research into my then-current assignment. He also dated my sister for a few months, but they broke up last week. We're friends, so he asked me, instead."

Tina nodded, but remained suspicious. The ghost of a skin-and-bones child, most likely a street urchin from somewhere else in the village, had crept into the room while they had been talking, seen Valerie, and was making a significantly faster exit. "Lizzy's a history nut, too. Sometimes it comes in handy, most of the time she needs to be reminded that obscure facts are not common knowledge."

Valerie's eyes seemed to pierce through Tina, prying her open and extracting her secrets. "Yes, I imagine that was helpful when she and James were trying to get un-possessed."

Tina snapped instantly into defence mode. Governments taking an interest in private citizens, especially private citizens from other countries, never ended well. "I don't know what you're talking about!"

Valerie considered her for a long moment. "Then I'll tell you after dinner, when there are less prying ears around."

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 _A/N: For those who care, St Andrews Hospital is a real place, currently dealing in patients with mental disorders, from schizophrenia to the autism spectrum and learning difficulties. It's incarnation as an Asylum is where John Clare was re-institutionalised, and later died, and also the place where he wrote two of his most famous poems: 'I Am' and 'An Invite, To Eternity'._

 _Research fun facts._

 _As always, feedback of any kind is much appreciated._

 _Thanks,_

 _Nat_


	3. IMPORTANT! PLEASE READ!

_The edited and improved version of **Eternity's Invitation** is now available on Amazon, under the pen-name Natasja Rose._

 _With that in mind, I will be taking down the fanfic version, but will leave a sample chapter or two. Thanks to everyone who read my work, offered encouragement and left reviews._

 _For those following my Twisted Fairytales, I'm working on **Beautiful, Inside and Out** , and hope to have the first chapters of **Red Riding Hood and the Stalker** and **The Ugly Duckling and Positive Body Image** posted soon._

 _Your support means so much to me and I can't thank you enough. If anyone would be kind enough to leave a review over on amazon, as well, that would be fantastic and I would love you forever._

 _I'm also considering writing an original story based off elements of ' The Paths Diverge' and 'The Dursley Witch'. What do you think?_

 _Thanks,_

 _Nat_


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